1

Africa Trip Report, Spring 2009

On Wednesday, May 27th, I, Bishop Joshua, my wife, Kathy, and one of the young ladies in
our church, Sharon Dougherty, made the long flight to Kigali, Rwanda. We were warmly
received Thursday evening at the airport by about 20 adults and children. Our luggage
was immediately taken from our hands and eventually, squeezing into vehicles, we were
taken to our hotel. After dropping off our luggage in our
rooms, we were escorted into the hotel restaurant and
treated to a welcome dinner where we were lavished with
praises and cheers of welcome. By the time we were finished
it was after 10:00 pm and we were exhausted. We went to
our rooms and unpacked, then repacked for the next day,
since we were to leave early the next morning to take a bus
to Burundi.

As planned, the next morning at 6:30 we were gathered up by Celestine, the young man
who mostly looked after our needs while we were in Rwanda, and we were taxied to the
bus stop for a 6 hour trip to Bujambura, Burundi with Fr. Denis and his wife, Dativa. As is
often the case, the bus was packed and hot. But we had a good laugh at one point
during the trip when we realized the music being piped through the speakers was
American Country and Western. Seeing Africans, known for their amazing ability to keep
difficult off-beats on a drum while singing and dancing, singing and clapping instead to
Kenny Roger’s song “The Gambler,” was both hilarious and refreshing.

When we arrived that afternoon in Burundi we were received by Bp. Telesphore, who is
the overseer of a group of about 50 churches throughout Burundi. He and a number of
his fellow leaders have been working toward union with
the EOC for some time. My job for this trip was to do
liturgical teaching and do the final training to prepare
them to begin using the EOC liturgy, as well as to
determine whether they were ready to be received in
some capacity into the EOC. As in Rwanda, we were
warmly received by the people there, who had already
been blessed by Bishop Jerold’s ministry in January, had
been going through the catechism, and had been
frequently visited and coached by Fr. Denis from the
EOC church in Kigali. Fr. Denis is very well respected there.

After settling in for the night and next

morning, on Saturday afternoon we met
with about 15 leaders from various places
in an old, run down meeting hall with holes
in the roof that leaked and left puddles on
the floor during the thunderstorm that
began about the same time the meeting
began. I spent about 2 hours teaching,
presenting and explaining liturgical items
that we brought with us for them, and
 2
answering many questions. It was a rich time, but very challenging trying to explain
things in terms the translator could understand sufficiently enough to be able to
communicate to the others. The plan then was to walk through the Liturgy and prepare
to use it for their Sunday morning service. However, we ran out of time and it was
determined that they would have their regular service in the morning, then a “teaching”
Liturgy would be celebrated Sunday afternoon with just the members of the local church
and the visiting pastors from the other churches.

On Sunday morning we went to one of the local churches that Bp. Telesphore oversees
and joined their usual worship. Although they have mostly all come from Catholic (and a
few from Anglican) backgrounds, because of the RC Church’s participation in the
Genocide this group of churches had
become an evangelical/charismatic
expression. It was a fairly high-powered
and energetic service, with much singing
and dancing by some incredibly talented
choirs. We were told these choirs are some
of the best in the country. There were
about 120 people in attendance at the
service. All three of us were warmly
introduced at the beginning and asked to
say a few words,
then applauded and lavished with praise. I gave the homily,
which although only handwritten on one side of one piece of
paper, still took about 35 minutes to give because of the
need to pause for translation. Typical of black culture even in
America, it seemed the times they most connected with my
message was when I would get on an exciting “run” of some
kind or tell a story. It was Pentecost Sunday, so I spoke on
the fire of God which Jesus came to baptize us with, and tied
the theme of fire to faith, hope, and love. Interestingly
enough, my message was accompanied by visual aids when
at the end of the service some of their electrical wiring
caught fire and the people had to quickly scatter out of the
building while the fire was put out. What can I say!

That afternoon we had

the “teaching” Liturgy as
planned. About 75-80
members were in
attendance. Fr. Denis
and I concelebrated, but
Bp. Telesphore vested as
well and stood at our
side while Fr. Severin
translated when
necessary. Fr. Severin is
a godly and well educated former Anglican priest who has
 3
been very instrumental in this process of transition to the EOC. The service, though a
little rough in places, went well and it was a great blessing to share communion together
with these brothers and sisters for the first time. During the service, as had been
determined before hand, the members present were received into the EOC by renewal of
baptismal vows, since all had formerly been baptized and chrismated in prior church
traditions. The main local church was constituted
as St. Andrew Evangelical Orthodox Church,
a fitting choice since St. Andrew was the first called
Apostle, and this was the first EOC church being
formed in Burundi.

So, in short, Bp. Telesphore and his home

church were received as St. Andrew EOC, and all
the other churches he oversees were provisionally
received in him as their spiritual head. St. Andrew
EOC will begin using the EOC liturgy and growing
into it, and over time the other churches as they are ready will follow suit. Bp.
Telesphore is obviously the bishop there by more than title, his giftings in the Spirit
bearing witness. Fr. Severin and the other pastors are also gifted and godly men who
honor their overseer and live and shepherd in harmony. There seemed to be no good
reason to do anything other than name what is already there and receive them with their
orders already in place. They will be given the time between now and when Bp. Jerold
goes again at the end of the year to grow into functional EOC churches. Then, when Bp.
Jerold is there, he will formalize anything that needs to be made more formal, such as
Bp. Telesphores place on the council of Bishops.

The next morning we loaded onto the bus, this time a nicer and less crowded one, and
made the trip back to Kigali, Rwanda, where we remained for the rest of our two weeks
in Africa. On the way back the bus driver was stopped for speeding, and since he had
already been given his final warning, this time he was escorted to the closest law
enforcement facility where his license was taken and we were told we would have to wait
an hour for another driver to come. But, as we saw over and over again, Fr. Denis knew
someone at the place and convinced him to let the driver take us the rest of the way
home then report back to the police. He agreed and we continued on our way!

As we had done when we got into Kigali the first time, so when we returned we hit the
ground running, first taking care of some “necessary” things like exchanging money,
getting the cell phone activated, and getting the laptop connected to the Internet.

That evening (Monday), while I got caught up on e-mail messages and drafted a report to
St. Paul EOC, Kathy and Sharon taught their first adult English class. They really enjoyed
the class and got very positive feedback. It seems the people there are really anxious to
learn English, which they see as a very necessary key to their future. Kathy and Sharon
said one of the highlights of the evening was when one of the students pronounced
“striking” as “streaking,” so Kathy and Sharon had to explain what a streaker is, which
caused a great deal of laughing once the class got it. So much for classical English!
 4
On Tuesday morning we went
to the primary school that
meets at Fr. Denis and Dativa’s
home. There is approximately
one hundred children there
right now, and we were taken
to each class for them to
welcome us with song. It was
such a blessing. They sang
“We are happy to receive you,
welcome” to the tune of “She’ll
be comin’ round the mountain when she comes.” After the
welcome, Kathy and Sharon taught English in one of the classes
and did crafts with them. The kids loved it. While they were
doing that I spent time with the preschool children, who were all over me most of the
time. My hat was on their heads more than on my own. Needless to say I thoroughly
enjoyed them.

That afternoon as Kathy and Sharon walked through the Genocide Memorial with
Celestine and Dativa, I stayed at the hotel and worked on my Church History Overview
class I was to teach in the seminary that evening. This small EOC “seminary,” called
Light of the World African Seminary, has been formed by Fr. Denis and Fr. John in Kigali.
It has 10-12 students who are very serious about what they are doing. From our
standards this seems hardly worthy of being called a seminary, but Fr. Denis runs it very
purposefully and strictly. His goal is to use it both to raise money for other things (the
students have to pay a small tuition) and to use it to train “apostolic” workers to go out
and start other EOC churches. I was impressed by a number of the young men who are
currently attending the classes, no doubt future deacons and priests.

The Church History Overview class that evening went well, although once again the
challenge of language made it much more difficult to make sure the students understood
what I was saying, even with Fr. Denis
translating. Not only did I have to take time
for the translation, I often also had to take
time after the translation for them to talk among
themselves to help each other understand what
had been translated! I’ll break from the
chronological report at this point and just report
that I taught two more classes, and at the third
one I gave an exam that was a mixture of
multiple choice, short answer essay, matching,
and true/false. It was both an exam in Church
History and in English, since it was written in
English and they had to be able to read,
understand, and answer the questions in English. I am glad to say that all passed the
exam, some much more easily than others.
 5
On Wednesday Fr. Denis and I met together to talk about church business and so I
could get caught up to speed on current developments and also pass along to him the
various things that we had brought with us such as additional icons and vestments, etc.
Fr. Denis proceeded to tell me about the developments in Gitarama and Burema, as well
his own parish in Kigali. Gitarama is about an hour southwest of Kigali and has an EOC
community of about 55 faithful. They are led by a very capable pastor, Gratien
Sebakiga, and have taken the name St. Michael Evangelical Orthodox Church. Gratien
was an official catechist in the Roman Catholic Church for many years, and when I met
him and his wife later in the week I could see why Fr. Denis speaks so highly of him. He
and his family are of great character, humility, and integrity, and I was very impressed
with them. Gratien is well educated and obviously pastoral hearted. Fr. Denis had
already taken them through the catechism and Gratien and a number of his people had
come several times to Kigali and participated in the Liturgy, and they had been doing
basically a Liturgy of the Word. Fr. Denis had already received them as an official EOC
parish (a little pre-mature but innocent act) and was advocating that Gratien be made a
deacon and allowed to celebrate the full EOC Common Liturgy. Although I think Gratien
is gifted pastorally, I felt it best to have him only celebrate a Deacon’s Liturgy of pre-
consecrated gifts, however that could be done. One of his sons attends the seminary
(one of the students I mentioned earlier that I was very impressed with), and it was
decided that he could take pre-sanctified bread and wine from Kigali’s morning service
and get it to Gitarama for them to have a Deacon’s Liturgy in the afternoon. They would
function like this until Bp. Jerold goes again, at which time Gratien would likely be
ordained a priest and able to celebrate the full Liturgy. As you can see, often times
things here are a bit of a moving target. My anal retentiveness tends to fight against
that, but how can I withhold formal recognition of things the Spirit has obviously already
done? So, the plan was set into place that Gratien would be ordained a deacon during
the Sunday Liturgy.

On Thursday we went to visit the sewing

school in Burema. This was a very
encouraging and blessed time. James, the
man who runs the school and is a deacon-
in-training, does a great job. He is kind of a
fun-loving version of a Louis Gossett Jr. drill
sergeant type. The students appear to
have much respect for him, and a small

community in the village has developed around him

that meets on Sunday mornings and does a simple
“readers” service. The hope is that eventually
James will be ordained a deacon and this little
mission will become an official parish. I didn’t
discern that it was quite ready for that yet – maybe
when Bp. Jerold goes. Nevertheless, it was a
tremendously
 6
stimulating experience there. The students, mostly girls but a few guys as well, are
very appreciative of all that has been provided for them in the way of sewing machines
and supplies, mostly from the faithful and friends in Saskatoon. We took more supplies
to them and also bought a number of the clothes they had made. They sang and danced
for us, and at one point during one of the more energetic dances, they came and with
great honor embraced Kathy and Sharon and led them into their circle to join in the
dance. Kathy and Sharon were both overwhelmed by emotion at the display of such love
and acceptance. This sewing school is a great thing and a tremendous opportunity for
the students as well as a witness in the community of our love and life.

On the way back from Burema we went to look at the land that the church is hoping to
buy. This is a different plot of land than was looked at back in January, since that land
sold before we could get the money raised. This land however, is very nice, very
accessible and close to the center of the city, and comes highly recommended by Fr.
Philbert from R.E.A.C.H., whom we have consulted because he is a friend and because he
has done a significant amount of work in purchasing and building for his own ministry.
The owners of the property were very sweet people. Later that day we went to the bank
where the EOC account is set up. Our purpose for going was to meet with personnel and
ask questions about the process and the fees for transferring money directly between
banks. We were royally treated, and the bank representative was very nice to work with
and fortunately he spoke pretty good English. Later on I was able to speak with Fr.
Philbert and run by him the information we believed we had gotten from the bank, and
he agreed we were covering all the bases. As best we could tell, everything was in place
and it would only cost about $25 for a transfer fee for the $23,000 for the land, which
was a much lower fee than we expected.

We got to relax on Friday and go to the National Park and

take some beautiful shots of animals in the wild. They
seemed so much bigger than when you see them at the zoo!
Sharon was especially thrilled that we saw so many giraffes
and were able to walk so close to them, since that is her
favorite animal.

On Saturday I met again for some time with Fr. Denis to go over the service for Sunday.
We went over the names of those who were to be baptized and or/chrismated, and then
talked about the two men who were to be ordained deacons. One of the men and his
children who were to be baptized was a Muslem who was converting to Christianity,
because of which he is being shunned by his extended family. The two men to be
ordained deacons were Gratien from Gitarama and Canisius, who has been a deacon-in-
training at St. John EOC in Kigali. These are both worthy and capable men, and both will
likely be priests at some time in the future. Deacon Canisius is from the Congo and will
eventually go back there and begin an EOC church. There are two other men at St. John
EOC who have been deacons in training since our first visit last August, but neither are
ready to become deacons yet for various reasons.
 7

Sunday morning, of course, we gathered for the Sunday service. The hall St. John EOC is
renting and using for worship is rather small, and that day it was packed out with over
100 people. There were 3 adult choirs and the children’s choir that sang at different
times. Early in the service the people sang “O Lord Open My Lips,” the song that Lasse
Lagerquist from Sweden wrote. What a blessing it was to hear a song from Sweden sung
in English by Africans! Somehow in that moment the EOC didn’t seem so geographically
scattered!

After the pre-service, I did the baptisms and chrismations.

There ended up being 8 of each including adults and children.
It was especially a rich blessing to baptize the Muslim man
and his children. He was so grateful. Baptisms there have to
be very simple. As the Didache says, we are to do them in
running water – such as a river if possible. If not, we do them
however we can, at the very least pouring water over the
head three times in the name of the Trinity, which is how we
have to do it in Africa. So I had
them kneel down, bend forward and put their heads over the
basin of previously sanctified water, then scoop up water in
my hands and pour it over their heads three times. After
drying them off with a white towel, the same white towel is
used to wrap around them and symbolize that they have
been clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Very
simple, but God is just as present to receive them and
transfer them into His glorious Kingdom.

I gave the homily again, tying the theme of the day – Trinity Sunday – into practical life
issues. Then the two deacon ordinations were done. That also was
such a blessing, for as I said, these are two worthy men. It was
such a thrill to see their own
expressions of celebration and
gratitude when, after the ordination
prayers and vesting, I presented them
to the people as new deacons. The
People had no problem issuing hearty
cries of “Worthy!”
 8
After the service, which lasted several hours, bread and Coke was distributed to
everyone as lunch, and food from the Good Samaritan
Project was distributed to those who were in need. Many
crowded into a small side room to get their portions.
While a few, like in any culture, weren’t as grateful as
they could have been, most were very thankful and
appreciative. We had gone with Dativa earlier in the week
to buy the food, which was beans, rice, and some cooking
oil. This is a great ministry, but no matter how much food
is purchased it never seems like enough.

For much of the afternoon, during the Good Samaritan

distribution and for a couple hours afterward, many people
hung around and watched a DVD of Jesus of Nazareth on
the laptop computer one of our members had provided.
They have been doing this every Sunday after worship.
All in all, even though we didn’t stay for everything, people were there for 6 hours or
more! Their Sunday gathering is their central time to be together and they milk it for all
they can.

Fr. Denis and Dativa had us over to their place Sunday night for a cookout, and it was
enjoyable just to spend some more time with them and their family. We were each
presented with simple gifts as more words of gratitude were poured out on us. The next
morning (Monday) was the final morning at the school and the children’s opportunity to
say goodbye to us, which they did both
by word and by song and dance.
They danced up a storm, and the pre-
school children each did solo dances – each
one different from the others! It was
such a blessing. That night after the
final Church History Overview exam, we
were treated to a farewell supper with
the leadership and key people from St.
John EOC. Once again, speeches were
given and praises lavished on us for
coming. Messages were sent through Sharon’s camera video clips to people back in
Indiana. Although the video is so dark that you can’t really see anyone, their comments
were clear and precious. They really consider us family.

Tuesday we spent the morning packing, then it was off to the airport. I was fighting
tears of bittersweet emotions as we said our goodbyes. While I was glad to be going
home to people I love here, I realized how much I would miss the precious brothers and
sisters who had shown us such love and hospitality, who are bonded with us beyond
anything that language and cultural differences can hinder. Thank God for safety in our
travels and especially for the work He is doing through us, apart from us, and in us as we
continue to offer ourselves for His purposes and glory in Africa.